The addition of foaming agents to firefighting water streams can be particularly useful for fighting fires, for example, fires in office buildings, industrial factories, chemical plants, petrochemical plants and petroleum refineries. The use of compressed air firefighting foam requires that air and a foam concentrate be mixed and added at constant proportions to the water stream. When the foam extinguisher solution is delivered, the foam effectively extinguishes the flames of chemical and petroleum fires, which would not be effectively extinguished by the application of water alone.
Compressed air foam technology improves the firefighting capacity of water and foam chemicals by producing a higher energy stream that penetrates the fire and by producing a higher quality foam bubble structure than is obtainable by other methods. The size of the compressed air foam bubble can be varied by controlling the ratio of compressed air to foam solution. Further, compressed air foam lines are lighter than water lines and place less stress on the firefighters and allow a greater degree of mobility. This facilitates reduced water damage, quicker fire knockdown, and a “safer” environment for both the firefighters and potential victims. Moreover, the compressed air foam will reduce the associated smoke damage by absorbing smoke from the air.
However, current compressed air foam systems are limited in their applications by the amount of compressed air foam pressure that they can produce.
What is needed is a compressed gas foam system that is applicable to large office buildings, skyscrapers, large ships (e.g., cruise ships, aircraft carriers, container ships), mountainous terrain with high elevations, long hose lays with high frictional losses, and conduits, hoses, or stand pipes with high frictional and/or pressure losses.